


A Paddling Of Two

by helens78



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animals, Alternate Universe - Ducks, Anthropomorphic, Ducks & Geese, First Meetings, M/M, Parody, Podfic Available, Tumblr snippet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-03
Updated: 2012-10-03
Packaged: 2017-11-15 13:58:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/528047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helens78/pseuds/helens78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles Xavier, a telepathic duck, meets Erik Lehnsherr, a metallokinetic duck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Paddling Of Two

**Author's Note:**

  * For [emmagrant01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmagrant01/gifts).



> **PODFIC!** The lovely [reena_jenkins](http://ao3.org/users/reena_jenkins) recorded this, and you can find it [here](http://reena-jenkins.livejournal.com/109571.html). :D
> 
> This is all [Emma Grant](http://ao3.org/users/emmagrant01)'s fault. She reblogged [this "editorial" on Tumblr](http://emmagrant01.tumblr.com/post/32812408049/motherjones-so-theres-that-via-i-think), quoted in part here:
>
>> If homosexuality spreads, it can cause human evolution to come to a standstill. It could threaten the human position on the evolutionary ladder, and say, ducks, could take over the world. [...]
>> 
>> I don't want my children to have to compete with ducks. I want them to evolve further than I have. Any self-respecting human would aim for that too. [...]
>> 
>> If you believe in evolution, you can't be in favour of homosexuality, or the ducks will get you in the end.
>> 
>> Jasmin H., aged 14
> 
> Emma responded to it saying, "I think this calls for gay ducks. Anyone?"
> 
> I took mild liberties with duck behaviors (did you know male ducks don't actually quack _per se_? So says Wikipedia), and chose duck species that resembled Charles and Erik as best I could (Charles is a Ruddy Duck, Erik is a Black-Bellied Whistling Duck), but... honestly, guys. They're _ducks_. I'm begging you, just roll with it. ^_^;;

There was a great commotion in the water; Charles flapped his wings and held one of his primary feathers against his temple. He could feel another bird's distress... no, not just another bird, another _duck_. Another _special_ duck, like him.

"There's someone else out there!" he called, turning and waddling back up to the top deck of the U.S. Coast Geese vessel. Up on deck, he flapped a wing at the water, where the anchor chain from Shaw's yacht was rising from the water.

"There!" Charles waved both wings frantically, but the Coast Geese were all busy helping their own, sending out teams to help injured birds after Riptide's wind-attack.

The anchor chain was moving swiftly, and as Charles stared in awe, the duck in the water shoved it _through_ Shaw's yacht, the anchor tearing up the boat and sending ducks scurrying away. Shaw and his companion ducks disappeared below decks, and a few moments later, the water showed ripples that explained why: Shaw had a submarine.

 _A duck with a submarine?_ Charles wondered briefly, but all too soon he was distracted; the duck who'd been holding the anchor aloft was now focused on that submarine, swimming rapidly towards it-- no, _not_ swimming, being _pulled_. That same magnetic strength that had given him the ability to lift the anchor... he was exerting it against the submarine, and it was dragging him away!

"You have to let go!" Charles quacked, as loudly as he could. "Let him go! You have to let him go!" He turned to Moira, to the black swan from the CIA who'd promised his aid. "You have to help him. You have to get someone paddling over there to help him!"

But it was no use. The Coast Geese were all too busy; Moira and the Swan in Black were stupefied, too shocked by all these demonstrations of superavian talents that they couldn't respond.

There was no more time to lose. Charles hopped up onto the railing and dove overboard, swimming as fast as he could.

The telepathic duck in Shaw's paddle was no longer blocking Charles's ability; Charles could use his own telepathy to home in on the stranger. Under the water, the duck was still straining, wings spread wide, trying to halt or crush the submarine-- but it was no use, the submarine was too far, the other duck's ability failing him as his webbed feet paddled uselessly beneath the water.

«You can't,» Charles sent to him, coming over, nudging at the other duck's belly with his beak. «You'll drown.» He opened his mind to the other duck's thoughts as strongly as he could, taking in the other duck's name, his mission here... and was nearly blinded by the ache of sympathy that resulted. _Oh, Erik..._

«You have to let go. I know what this means to you, but you're going to die! Please. Erik! Calm your mind...»

Erik's wings collapsed to his sides, and Charles was able to buoy him to the surface, carefully nudging him until Erik was floating safely on the surface.

He was a strong bird, a bit larger than Charles, but thinner, his legs and neck long and slender. In the darkness, it was hard to make out his coloring, but his bill was red, and Charles could just make out a distinctive white patch on the backs of his wings.

"You were in my head," Erik quacked, confused. "How did you do that?"

"You have your tricks, I have mine. I'm like you," Charles offered.

Erik turned his head, briefly, to preen at a feather... or to wipe the water from his face, perhaps. When he turned back to Charles, he was resolute... but that guarded look softened a little as he took in Charles, his blue bill, the two brown speckles on it that Charles had always felt marred his appearance, certainly disqualifying him from ever entering a show.

"I thought I was alone," Erik said softly.

"You're not," Charles assured him, swimming closer, tucking his head against Erik's side. A bold move, to be sure, but Charles had seen into Erik's mind. He _knew_ this duck.

Erik butted his head against Charles's, and Charles floated next to him, content as he'd never been before. "Erik," he murmured, "you're not alone."


End file.
